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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 1991-01-07 TOWN OF ITHACA REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING January 7 , 1991 At a Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , New York , held at the Town Hall , 126 East Seneca Street , Ithaca , New York , there were : PRESENT : Shirley Raffensperger , Supervisor John Whitcomb , Councilman Patricia Leary , Councilwoman David Klein , Councilman Frank Liguori , Councilman Catherine Valentino , Councilwoman Karl Niklas , Councilman ALSO PRESENT : John Barney , Town Attorney Scott McConnell , Highway Superintendent Andrew Frost , Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Daniel Walker , Town Engineer George Frantz , Acting Town Planner Linda Nobles , Asst . Budget Officer Jane Schafrik , 1491 Trumansburg Road Lee Schafrik , 1491 Trumansburg Road Celia Bowers , 1406 Trumansburg Road William Grover , 1486 Trumansburg Road Gene Ball , 1317 Trumansburg Road James Ainslie , 245 Hayts Road John Wolf , 1431 Trumansburg Road Krys Cail , 337 DuBois Road Representatives of the Media : Greg Williams , WHCU PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Supervisor led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance . REPORT OF TOWN OFFICIALS Town Supervisor ' s Report Town Supervisor Shirley Raffensperger reported that Tompkins County Planning has set up a study committee composed of elected officials to monitor a land use impact analysis of the Village of Lansing . Occasionally they add adjacent communities She stated that this adjacent community has kept her attending the meetings . She went on to note that to date , Tom Niederkorn who was retained as a consultant and Jeannie Barrett , Circuit Rider Planner for the Village of Lansing and Jim Hanson who is the Tonpkins County Commissioner of Planning have provided the group with a project scope and background information on the Village and Town of Lansing . The group meets monthly and the analysis is scheduled for completion in early summer 1991 . The Supervisor went on to note that the Town Planner position has been advertised with a deadline for applications of January 31st . To date , 21 applications have been received and she stated that she Town Board Minutes 2 January 7 , 1991 would like to suggest that a committee consisting of Councilman Klein , Councilman Whitcomb , Carolyn Grigorov , Linda Nobles and herself be set - up' to review the applications , rate them for interviews and conduct the interviews as soon after February 1st as they can arrange . She stated that if any other Town Board member wished to serve on the selection committee or if they would like to suggest someone else to serve , please let her know . Town Engineer ' s Report Town Engineer Dan Walker stated that things were progressing well on the Troy Road water tank construction and he felt they would finish their construction for the winter soon . He stated that he would mail. , to the Board members , a complete engineering report in a few days . The Engineer went on to note that the Town had received a. new version of the agreement from Cornell . One of the issues has always been what the State would do with their part ownership of the water main and he has gotten the word that they are willing to quick claim that over to the Town . This would at least give the Town full ownership of the water line on paper and then they could proceed to eliminate some of the other issues regarding maintenance and responsibility . This is only an update to the Board . Highway Superintendent ' s Report Highway Superintendent Scott McConnell reported that his report was basically a detail of the work they had done in December . Most of the work that was done was finishing up Park Lane , drain pipe installation and repair . Snow removal took 21 % of their regular time and about half of the overtime . Because of the storm over the holidays and a couple of other storms we kept some ditches open , a couple of trees needed to be removed , miscellaneous things like that . The Parks crew did some snow removal on their recreation ways , bikeways and walkways . They are still working on the safety update for the playstructures and thinning up some trees . Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer ' s Report Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Andrew Frost reported that during the month of December they had issued eight building permits , twelve certificates of occupancy , two new complaints for the month and they :made 59 field visits . He then went on to explain his Annual Report which showed 211 certificates of occupancy issued for the year 1990 , with 161 building permits issued . We received 90 complaints . Councilman Whitcomb asked if one certificate of occupancy for Maplewood Apartments was issued or one for each apartment ? Mr . Frost replied , they were all issued separate certificates of occupancy . Town Supervisor Raffensperger asked if there were only 13 fire calls in the Town for the whole year , including one false alarm? Mr . Frost replied , that he had trouble with the Village of Cayuga Heights fire department giving them reports and Cayuga Heights may , in fact , ]:lave received other alarms which they do not report to him . The Ithaca Fire Department gives them reports on fires , however , there may be more from the Village . Town Board Minutes 3 January 7 , 1991 Assistant Town Planner ' s Report George Frantz , Assistant Town Planner reported that the Planning Board had not met yet this month . However , he had provided the Board members with a copy of the Planning Department ' s annual report which the Board members could read at their leisure . He stated that it had been a extremely interesting year for the Planning Department , REPORT OF 'DOWN COMMITTEES Conservation Advisory Committee Councilman Whitcomb stated that yesterday the Natural Areas Committee presented the Six Mile Creek Heritage to Preserve document to the neighborhood at the Coddington Road Community Center . He commended Laura Marks and George Frantz for handling the sometimes hostile crowd very well . The report will now be going to the Planning Board on January 15th , Comprehensive Planning Committee Councilman Klein stated that the CPC will meet tomorrow night . The Goals and Objectives Subcommittee met last Thursday and worked on the final draft of the Goals and Objectives Chapter and will be presented -to CPC tomorrow night . PRESENTATION BY KURT ZIRKA OF THE TOMPKINS COUN'T'Y ENVIRONMINTAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL Supervisor Raffensperger reported that this item had been cancelled for this meeting and will be on the February agenda . APPOINTMENT TO TOMPKINS COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO , 1 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwoman Valentino , RESOLVED , -that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the reappointment of Councilwoman Patricia Leary to the Tompkins County Transportation Commission . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) , APPOINTMENT TO NOR'T'HEAST TRANSIT COMMITTEE RESOLUTION NO , 2 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , That the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the reappointment of Councilwoman Patricia Leary to the Northeast Transit Committee . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) , APPOINTMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING COMMITTEE CHAIR Town Board Minutes 4 January 7 , 1991 Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Board did not have the recommendation from the Comprehensive Planning Committee for the Chair since they have not had the opportunity to meet . APPOIN`IMENr OF COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING COMMITTEE MEMBER Councilman Klein stated that in late summer or early fall , Gene Ball who was on the committee from West Hill resigned because of personal problems . At the time , since we were looking to finish the comprehensive plan by the end of the year , it didn ' t seem all that important to fill that vacancy . However , since the Committee still has a substantial amount of work in front of it and they will be working into this year and going to public hearings it felt it would be beneficial to try to fill his seat . He went on to say that the person he would like to recommend was Jerry Weisburd who is an architect and developer and most known in the Town of Ithaca as the developer of Commonlands . At the moment Jerry does not have any land holdings in the Town of Ithaca and the Commonland project is sold out and is out of his control . Councilman Klein went on to say that Mr . Weisburd was involved in a very small project at Inlet Valley Cooperative along with several other owners down there and that is where is lives . He stated that his representation would be important because when the Supervisor set up the committee last February , after the deadline passed for the public to express interest , the Tompkins County Home Builders Association contacted him as well as the Supervisor and suggested they would like to put one of their members on the committee . Since the committee was filled and the deadline had passed we could not honor that request and he felt this was a segment of the community that was worth while to be represented on the committee . Councilman Whitcomb noted that Cornell University had expressed an interest of having someone on the committee as well , he asked if anyone from Cornell had contacted him? Councilman Klein replied , no . RESOLUTION NO . 3 Motion by Councilman Klein ; seconded by Councilman Liguori , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the appointment of Gerald Weisburd to the Comprehensive Planning Committee . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) , APPOINTMENT OF CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL CHAIR Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Town Board had an adopted resolution from the Conservation Advisory Council recommending that Councilman Whitcomb remain in the chairperson position for at least another year . RESOLUTION NO . 4 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Klein , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the appoiniment of Councilman Whitcomb as chair of the Conservation Advisory Council for the year 1991 . I Town Board Minutes 5 January 7 , 1991 ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . TOWN BOARD COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that she had given the Board an opportunity to protest their assignments and as no one did that she would consider that the following are the Town Committee appointments for 1991 : Codes and Ordinance Karl Niklas , Chair Catherine 'Valentino Robert Hines Harrison Rue Eva Hoffman Personnel Shirley Raffensperger , Chair Patricia Leary Catherine Valentino Carolyn Gr:igorov Chair , Zoning Board of Appeals or designee Public Works John Whitcomb , Chair Frank Liguori Television Franchise Committee Catherine Valentino Youth Services Catherine Valentino , Chair David Klein Town rep . to County Youth Board - Pamela Hanna Town rep . to City of Ithaca Youth Bureau Board BENEFIT UNIT REFUNDS RESOLUTION N0 , 5 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger , seconded by Councilwoman Valentino , WHEREAS , Harry Missirian , 139 Simsbury Drive was charged for two units of water and two units of sewer , and WHEREAS , the basement apartment is used by his father only , and WHEREAS , it has been a long standing Town policy that an apartment shall not be deemed to be a separate unit if the unit is occupied by the same family which occupies the remainder of the dwelling and that no rents are being charged , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby authorize a refund of one unit of water in the amount of $ 64 . 00 and one unit of sewer in the amount of $ 62 . 00 , total refund of $ 126 . 00 be made to Harry Missirian upon the payment of his 1991 taxes in the full amount . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) , Town Board Minutes 6 January 7 , 1991 CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , that from time to time the Conservation Advisory Council passes resolutions to the Town Board , Planning Board , Zoning Board of Appeals and others . At staff meetings we have been discussing a way to keep these from falling through the cracks . We are , therefore , requesting that all advisory boards who have resolutions for the Town Board , Planning Board , etc . , that the Chair send those to the appropriate Chair of the other board with a cover letter . We are trying to find a way to alert the Chairs of the various boards . Councilman Niklas asked Attorney Barney if it was City policy for an applicant to post when some kind of development is going to be reviewed ? Town Attorney John Barney responded that he did not know the precise policy but he had seen signs around the City so they must have some ,sort of a policy . George Frantz replied that he knew , at least for site plan development review , the applicant is required to post . Councilman Niklas asked that someone in Planning get a copy of the City ' s policy . RESOLUTION N09 6 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , by the Town of Ithaca Town Board , that the matter of a Town policy with respect to a sunset period for certain permits and approvals , as proposed by the Conservation Advisory Council , is hereby referred to the Codes and Ordinances Committee . The Town Board notes that Local Law # 15 , 1988 provides for automatic termination of variances and special approvals if not used , and FURTHER RESOLVED , that the Conservation Advisory Council is requested to develop a list of persons with appropriate expertise in flora , fauna and geology so that the Planning Board , when they deem it appropriate , may require an applicant to retain such services as part of the environmental review of the project . The CAC is urged to complete an inventory of natural resources and an index of open spaces , including habitat delineations , to serve as an additional resource to Town boards in environmental reviews , and FURTHER PJWLVED , that the Town Board refers to the Codes and Ordinances Committee the matter of posting of sign notices for certain projects or actions , with the expectation that the applicant would be responsible for such posting ; further that the Codes and Ordinances Committee shall evaluate the present system of notification for projects and actions and make a recommendation as to the appropriatness of a requirement that the applicant be responsible for all written notices , other than those which Town Law requires the Town to serve , and FURTHER RESOLVED , that the recommendations of the Conservation Advisory Council on general procedures will be considered in the context of the overall improvement effort for development reviews . (Raffenspe:rger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . 1991 PRIORITIES /WORK PLAN Town Board Minutes 7 January 7 , 1991 Supervisor Raffensperger noted that she had not received any comments from the Board but she wondered if the Board did have comments or items they would like to have added . She went on to say that she had sent it to the staff and asked them for comments , additions , subtractions , etc . The Supervisor went on to say that she knew Councilwoman Valentino had talked about youth services program and the assessment of that this year , the comprehensive plan as usual . Councilman Niklas remarked that one thing that came up , actually it was brought up by Andy Frost at our last , not our last but our second from last Codes and Ordinance meeting was the whole issue of when building permits are being reviewed or evaluated and on site inspection , that it would be . . . . . . . the record keeping of what are the final site plan specifications from Planning Boards getting to the point where there are a number of documents floating around and even though they are dated it is sometimes very difficult to know what was the last document that was approved by the Planning Board . It was suggested there , if memory served him correctly , that there is some desirability in having sane kind of generalized check list or sane kind of generalized way of knowing which documents are most current . He asked if this was not a fair summary? Town Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Andrew Frost replied that he thought it was pretty fair . He went on to say that he thought that was something the Supervisor has down , to develop a compliance check list , development review improvement . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that they have been working on all of those check lists and she had made a correction herself because if she didn ' t the staff was going to be very displeased and that is develop a compliance check list and complete development review improvement plan because there have been a lot of improvements made this year . But that is on-going and we are tying to work through all of those check lists . Councilman Niklas replied that he was glad to hear this . He went on to say that there was a number of issues that Codes and Ordinances are discussing right now that directly do require more of our Zoning Inspection Officer in terms of . . . . . . . . Mr . Frost remarked that in some cases , for example , you have a preliminary site plan review , you may have a site plan plan review . You have a preliminary subdivision approval , you have final subdivision approval and by the time you are said and done , if we are going to hold an applicant to what he has represented to the Town in the course of these numerous meeting , there are a lot of things floating out there that if the issue cones up at some later date that the guy represented something in the site plan or preliminary site plan or preliminary subdivision approval , we can ' t find it all together on one . . . . . . . . it would be nice to have it ultimately on one list . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , the other thing we have talked about is the necessity for that kind of a check list but also that in working through this , one of the things we are going to ask all of the boards to do , including this one , is that no board can depend upon compliance of any items that are not in the resolution . In other words , you can ' t expect the staff to go back through numerous - hearings and pick up assurances from a developer or statements by the Chair of the board that you better do this or we are not going to let you proceed . So all of the requirements that actually the boards are serious about having complied with are going to have to be in a resolution . And , we have talked about when the resolution itself gets typed up in the minutes , the secretary will do a site specific compliance check list . Because Town Board Minutes 8 January 7 , 1991 general ones , if you get one and read fifteen items that do not pertain to that particular circumstance you just tend to abandon the check list . So , we are going to try to get with more site specific ones . Andrew Frost remarked , that could hurt us in scene cases . In some cases it ' s been nice to go back and say hey , you said this during the hearing . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that it was very difficult to assure that you are going to do that , if it is not in the resolution . Councilman Niklas asked if those check lists were actually going to be signed off including , for example , the contractor or developer , so that "yes " I have read this and now I understand this and here is my signature to indicate that . . . . . . . . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , that that was the other thing that they have talked about that it should be sent to them after the final approval because very often precisely what has been approved is confusing to everybody . Mr . Frost remarked that he thought the developer should share a greater responsibility . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that if the staff does have some additions or comments she would bring them back to the Board in February . Councilwoman Valentino asked the Supervisor how did she foresee the development of the financial management plans , do you have something specific? Supervisor Raffensperger replied yes , actually one of the things we are looking to do is to get a better handle on how our cash flow really works . In other words , when does our income cane in and when does it go out . When are there windows when people can buy something and when are there periods in which it is very difficult to have any kind of major expenditure take place . Andrew Frost remarked , we had discussed about raising certain fees or charging certain fees in building and zoning and he knew he was going to give the Supervisor some material . . . . . . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that there were a lot of things like that around and she guessed that she did not put in everything that she could think of because she thought everybody would resign . Mr . Frost remarked that real soon they would be starting their fire safety inspections in multiple dwellings and that is something we are already doing without a fee and he did not know whether or not the process could be moved along . Supervisor Raffensperger suggested that Mr . Frost add that , write it up in a short sentence , and we can add that to this . RESOLUTION N0 . 7 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the draft 1991 Priorities and Work Plan . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . Town Board Minutes 9 January 7 , 1991 PERSONS TO BE HEARD No one present wished to speak at this time . OFFICIAL DELEGATE AND ALTERNATE DELEGATE TO THE ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS MEETING RESOLUTION NO . 8 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwoman Valentino , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby appoint Supervisor Shirley A . Raffensperger to attend the Annual Business Session of the Association of Towns of the State of New York , to be held in New York City , on February 20 , 1991 and to cast the vote of the aforesaid Town , pursuant to Section 6 of Article III of the Constitution and By-Laws of said Association , and FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED , that in the absence of the person so designated , Councilman David L . Klein has been designated to cast the vote of said Town . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . RATIFY RENTAL OF EQUIPMENT Supervisor Raffensperger noted that this equipment was used primarily in the Stone Quarry Road and Park Lane area for emergency work and Audit and Control is very fond of the Board approving this . Councilman Klein asked if they had stipulated a dollar amount? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , no . We are going to try to come up with a list of typical equipment that we rent and an estimated rate sometime soon . RESOLUTION N0 . 9 Motion by councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori , WHEREAS , the Highway Department had emergency work to be done on Stone Quarry Road and Park Lane , also drainage work to be completed on Park Lane , and WHEREAS , the Highway Department does not have equipment of suitable size to complete the required work , and WHEREAS , the Highway Superintendent was not aware of the requirement of Board resolution for equipment rental , a 490 Excavator was rented from Five Star Equipment without approval , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby ratify the rental of the 490 excavator from Five Star Equipment for $ 3 , 450 for a total of three weeks , 2 days in October , 2 weeks and 3 days in December , ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . APPOINI'N= TO SOUTHERN CAYUGA LAKE INTERMUNICIPAL WATER COMMISSION Town Board Minutes 10 January 7 , 1991 RESOLUTION N0 . 10 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves the reappointment of Supervisor Shirley Raffensperger and of Noel Desch as the Town of Ithaca representatives to the Southern Cayuga Lake Interrminicipal Water Commission for the period January 1 , 1991 to December 31 , 1991 . ( Raffensperger , Whitccmb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . PAYMENT OF LEGAL FEES AND TCAD MEMBERSHIP RESOLUTION NO . 11 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger , seconded by Councilman Whitcomb , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca authorizes the payment of the bill from Barney , Grossman , Roth and Dubow for legal services for the fourth quarter of 1990 in the amount of $27 , 031 . 43 , and FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca authorizes the payment of the membership fee to Tompkins County Area Development in the amount of $ 2 , 000 . 00 , as budgeted in the 1990 Townwide Fund , approved November 9 , 1989 . INSURANCE CARRIER Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that this was an item that was not clear -to her how this was handled in the past and in looking at the minutes in the past , sometimes the Town Board has voted to authorize the carrier , sometimes they have voted to ratify the decision to continue the coverage and sometimes they haven ' t done anything . Linda Nobles stated that basically she had described all of the various coverages and sent out letters requesting various agencies who had appropriate types of insurance available to respond . The current agent , Becker Wells and the Carey McKinney Group were the only two responses that we received . She noted that there was also an attachment which was not part of the so called package request that we putt out which was our Public Officials Liability . We had previously been carried through the Boothroyd Agency and Becker-Wells said they would also investigate what kinds of coverage and through what companies they could get us similar coverage for the Public Officials Liability . The Carey McKinney Group did not respond specifically to that request because they would have gone through the same company that Becker-Wells already had . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that the Town of Ithaca has dealt with the Boothroyd Group for a long time and during the time when it was very difficult to get coverage they accommodated the Town and she felt very regretful about this but if you will note , their premium was almost three times as much as the other quote . Councilman Niklas asked if Boothroyd had agreed that the coverage was identical? Town Board Minutes 11 January 7 , 1991 Linda Nobles replied yes , and she did not know what the difference in cost was . Mr . Becker stated that the coverage he is proposing assumes that we are members of a group called ICMA and by belonging to that group you get a very significant reduction . Councilman Whitcomb asked if the Town belonged to that group? Mrs . Nobles replied , the Supervisor is now a member . Councilman Whitcomb remarked that as he understood it , if we commit some horrible act as a Board with the exception of asbestos pollution and discrimination we are covered for a million dollar law suit with the exception of the first $ 10 , 000 which we would be responsible for individually . He asked if that was correct ? Town Attorney Barney replied that that was not quite correct . The Town , as a. Town Officer , as long as you act in good faith the Town is obliged to idemnify you . All the insurance is doing is providing a fund from which that idemnification will occur . You are not personally liable for $ 10 , 000 , if you act in good faith . Councilman Niklas remarked , given the present litigation inclination of society , he asked if one million dollars was enough? The Attorney replied , is twenty million enough? You really never know . He stated that as far as he knew the Town had never had a claim that involved this type of coverage . If you have a coverage of a million dollars there are not many law suits , even today , that if you are: able to put that amount of money on the table that you can ' t work some kind of a settlement . Councilman Klein felt that Becker-Wells could provide some kind of advice as -to what is appropriate . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she would come back to the Board with a schedule for increasing the Public Officers Liability and discuss the level that seems appropriate with Becker-Wells fof the size of our municipality . RESOLUTION N0 . 12 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby ratify the selection of Becker-Wells Agency as the insurance carrier in the amount. of $ 73 , 046 . 06 which includes all coverage except the Public Officials Liability which is in the amount to $ 3 , 507 . (Raffensperrger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . TOWN OF ITJ�ACA WARRANTS RESOLUTION NO . 13 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwoman Valentino , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves the Town of Ithaca Warrants dated January 7 , 1991 , in the following amounts General Fund - Townwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 18 , 974 . 19 General Fund - Outside Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 20 , 824 . 70 Water and Sewer Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 230 , 855 . 44 Highway Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 16 , 571 . 89 Town Board. Minutes 12 January 7 , 1991 Capital Projects Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 43 , 486945 ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . BOLTON POINT WARRANTS RESOLUTION NO . 14 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , that the Bolton Point Warrants dated January 7 , 1991 , in the Operating Account are hereby approved in the amount of $36 , 037 . 23 after review and upon the recommendation of the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission , they are in order for payment . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE AMORTIZATION OF CERTAIN NON-CONFORMING USES Proof of posting and publication of a notice of public hearing to consider amending the Zoning Ordinance providing for the amortization of certain non-conforming uses having been presented by the Town Clerk , the Supervisor opened the public hearing . Councilman Niklas remarked , the never ending battle has led Codes and Ordinances to look at various non-conforming uses and the problems that they present to the Town . Initially they focused on the question of non-conforming uses and the non-conforming occupancies so this is a piece of draft that the committee with the Town Attorney ' s attention has drafted and he encouraged the Town Board to approve it . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she had a resolution from the Planning Board dated December 4th recommending , to the Town Board , the adoption of this proposal . Councilman Whitcomb remarked , obviously people who now have non-conforming uses on their property need to know about this law . How will we advise them of this ? Councilman Niklas suggested the newsletter . Town Attorney Barney agreed with the newsletter and added , with the help of the news media also . He did not think there were very many . Councilman Liguori asked , how does a party know that the clock begins ticking now and they have fifteen years to do something ? He felt the law should say that it applies to " these " kinds of activities . Reading this you have no idea what the thing is really saying . Councilman Niklas replied , that he felt the first thing that Councilman Liguori asked about is reasonably dealt with if they identify the individuals that , we as a Town are aware of , that would be mcst directly effected by this , he did not see any reason why they couldn ' t be mailed a special notice . Town Board Minutes 13 January 7 , 1991 The Town Attorney went on to say that the second issue , they will know if they are non-conforming users or not . We change the Zoning Ordinance all the time . Councilman Liguori asked , what kinds of problems are we really after? Town Attorney Barney replied , the typical example is that right now our occupancy limitation in a single family house is no more than one family plus two boarders or lodgers , so you could have three unrelated persons . Or you could come before the ZBA and demonstrate that you have more people than that but they live together in a quasi family relationship . If you have a house now with five unrelated people occupying it , and that came about some time prior to the time the Town adopted the regulations that they presently have , that is the kind of non-conforming uses that this addresses . Councilman Niklas stated that he felt something should be put in the Ithaca Journal about this local law , if it passes . Councilman Klein noticed that no one was here from the Multiple Residence districts to speak one way or another . As no one present wished to be heard , the Supervisor closed the public hearing . Building Inspector Andrew Frost asked if this would effect Ithaca College and Cornell University which maintains multi-family housing or even dormitories in residential zones ? Town Attorney Barney replied , we allow dormitories as a separate use and he felt there could be a problem at Ithaca College but they could go to the ZBA . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she would hate to make an explicit exclusion for the two institutions as long as they have a method for them to go to the Board of Appeals . LOCAL LAW # 1 - 1991 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwc an Valentino , LOCAL LAW # 1 - 1991 A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE AMORTIZATION OF CERTAIN NON-CONFORMING USES The Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Ithaca as readopted , amended and revised effective February 26 , 1968 , and subsequently amended , be further amended as follows . 1 . Article XII , Section 52 , is hereby amended to read as follows . "Section 52 . Continuation of Existing Lawful Uses . Except as provided in Sections 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 56A , and 73 , any lawful use of land or a building or a part thereof , existing at the time of this ordinance as amended may be continued , although such building or use does not conform to the provisions thereof . " 2 . Article XII is amended by adding a new section , to be Section 56A , reading as follows . " Sect-Lon 56A . Amortization of Certain Non-Conforming Uses . Town Board Minutes 14 January 7 , 1991 19 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Ordinance and in an effort to provide for generally uniform limitations regarding residential occupancy throughout the residential districts of the Town , the non-conforming occupancies referred to in this section shall be terminated as set forth below . 2 . This section shall apply to residential occupancies in residential districts R5 , R9 , R15 , R30 , Multiple Residence , and any special land use districts which include occupancy of dwellings as a permitted use . 39 On and after March 1 , 2006 , notwithstanding whether a valid non-conforming use or occupancy existed at the time of the enactment of this Zoning Ordinance , or at the time of any amendment to this Ordinance limiting occupancy , no dwelling unit shall be occupied except in the manner specifically permitted by the applicable provisions of this Ordinance and any non-conforming occupancy in a dwelling unit which may have existed prior to the date of the enactment of this section shall be terminated . 40 The limitations imposed by this section shall not apply to buildings for which variances from the occupancy requirements of this Ordinance have been granted by the :Board of Appeals , either before or after the enactment of this section . 50 k non-conforming use due to be terminated pursuant to this section may be extended upon application for a ,special permit for such extension from the Board of ;Nppeals . Such permit shall not be granted unless the applicant establishes and the Board of Appeals finds that , notwithstanding the fifteen year period for amortizing a non-conforming use provided for in this ,section , termination of the non-conforming use would cause serious financial harm to the property owner not balanced or justified by the advantage to the public in -terms of more complete and effective zoning accruing from -the cessation of such use . In making this determination -the Board shall consider , among other factors ( including the factors set forth elsewhere in this Ordinance :relating to the issuance of special permits or (-approvals ) , ( i ) the nature of the non-conforming use ; ( ii ) the cost of converting to a conforming use ; ( iii ) -the amount of investment that existed in the property on -the date of the enactment of this section , ( iv) the detriment caused by the non-conforming use ; (v) the C haracter of the neighborhood ; (vi ) the ability of the :Landowner to have amortized the cost of the landowner ' s :investment over the fifteen years provided between the enactment of this section and the required termination of such use ; and (vii ) whether an additional reasonable (mount of time is needed by the owner to amortize the owner ' s investment . In making its determination the Board shall disregard , as irrelevant , any costs for purchase of a non-conforming building or property or costs to repair , maintain , improve or enlarge a non-conforming property , incurred after March 1 , 19910 :[ f the extension is granted , the Board of Appeals shall :set a fixed additional period for the extension of time before the non-conforming use must be terminated . " 3 . This :Law shall take effect upon its publication as required by law . Town Board Minutes 15 January 7 , 1991 Supervisor Raffensperger called for a roll call vote . Councilman Klein Voting Aye Councilwoman Leary Voting Aye Councilman Liguori Voting Aye Councilman Niklas Voting Aye Councilwoman Valentino Voting Aye Councilman Whitcomb Voting Aye Supervisor Raffensperger Voting Aye Local Law No . 1 - 1991 was thereupon declared duly adopted . EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION N0 . 15 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby moves into Executive Session to discuss possible land acquisition . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none) . OPEN SESSION RESOLUTION N0 . 16 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger , seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby moves back into Open Session . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . PUBLIC HEA]:�ING TO CONSIDER A LOCAL LAW ON BACKFLOW PREVENTION Proof of posting and publication of a notice of public hearing to consider a local law on backflow prevention having been presented by the Town Clerk , the Supervisor opened the public hearing . As no one present wished to speak , the Supervisor closed the public hearing . Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the local law was not ready for adoption this evening as the Town Attorney was still making modifications and , therefore , the hearing would have to be adjourned until the February meeting . RESOLUTION N0 . 17 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and conduct an adjourned public hearing at 7 : 45 P . M . , on February 11 , 1991 to consider a local law on backflow prevention . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . Town Board. Minutes 16 January 7 , 1991 PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A DETERMINATION OF PUBLIC PURPOSE FOR THE WEST HILL 1989 SEWER EXTENSION Proof of posting and publication of a notice of public hearing to consider a. determination of public purpose for the West Hill 1989 Sewer Extension having been presented by the Town Clerk , the Supervisor opened the public hearing . Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Town Board would discuss tonight , imnong other things , the possibility of modifying the benefited area for the 1989 sewer project . Town Engineer Dan Walker showed the modified plan which would end the sewer in the back yard of 1489 Trumansburg Road as opposed to extending to the northern property line of 1491 Tmmiansburg Road . Supervisor Raffensperger reminded the Board that they had a copy of a letter :From the West Hill Neighborhood Association commenting , not so much on this possible revision to the plan , but on the sewer service to this area in general . Celia Bowers , 1406 Trumansburg Road remarked that this was probably a very stutpid ccetment but it did occur to her that if this sewer line ran along the road , the people on the other side of the road might have a chance to hook in . And although there are no current sewer problems directly opposite from these five houses , at the present tune , they have the same problems with run off from Iradell Road . If they do have sane problems she thought there was sane doubt as to whether they could redo their septic tanks such that it would satisfy the new State requirements . And although it might be more expensive right now to go along the road it would be a potential benefit to twelve houses not five and , therefore , might be well worth the taxpayers money . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that this was samethi.ng the Town did look into in the past and suggested the Town Engineer , as they went along , address saw of the comments that cow from the public . She asked the Town Engineer to address how the Town has projected in the future to serve the other side and why the selection was made not to go along the front lot on this particular section of the improvement . Town Engineer Walker replied that he would start off with the question of why they did not go along the front lots . He noted that in front of the Board members was a cut sheet and they would notice that along Route 96 there are three colored lines which represent telephone lines , an existing water line and an existing gas line , all within the right-of-way . When the water line was constructed during the 1987 improvements we found bed rock and the depth that would be required to provide adequate sewer coverage to these houses would require an extensive amount of bed rock excavation . There is also a significant amount of water in those trenches . But the utilities are in the right-of-way line and because we have to maintain a ten foot separation between water and sewer we would be into all of the front yards for the construction of the sewer lines . That would require going through all of the driveways which is a major repair cost . Mrs . Bowers asked Mr . Walker if he had discussed with the homeowners whether they preferred it to be in the front or the back and secondly , what about the other side of the road? Mr . Walker replied , yes they had and he would get to the question about the other side of the road . We have thought this out very thoroughly . We surveyed the entire area including all the way down to Grove Road . The main advantage to these homeowners is the fact Town Board Minutes 17 January 7 , 1991 that with this sewer in the backyards , all the sewage from the homes could be collected by gravity and it would be less expensive for the hcueowners to connect because it would be very close to the existing sewer outlets . The construction difficulties and the cost that would be related to constructing in front it would be a less expensive route to connect in the back . There was , in the original plans , an extension which would allow one crossing of Route 96 which is about a fifteen to thirty thousand dollar cost for each time you tore under the road . Gene Ball , 1317 Trumansburg Road asked if anyone realized how much water problems the Town was going to have in the back . Dan Walker replied yes , but we will not be excavating so deep in the back . Mr . Ball replied you are still going to have surface water problems there 90 % of the time , it ' s swamp land . Councilman Niklas , speaking to the Town Engineer remarked , water is a problem no matter where you do this so the question is what are the other problems . Because of the bed rock and the depth of excavation the rear is less of a problem than what they are asking for . Dan Walker replied , this is correct . Councilman Niklas replied , so all things being equal and there are problems with one approach that becomes the more costly . Councilman Whitcomb remarked , so we have $ 50 , 000 plus $ 42 , 000 , that ' s $ 92 , 000 and we have $ 72 , 000 this way plus the crossing which are $ 45 , 000 . Mr . Ball remarked and you would be serving many more people , here you are only serving a few to start with . Councilman Whitcomb replied no , if everybody got served using the way that he has designed it , it would be $ 92 , 000 . If everybody got served using along the front and boring under Route 96 it would be $ 117 , 000 . Lee Schafrik , 1491 Trumansburg Road asked why would it cost more for the sewer line than the water line ? Mr . Walker- replied , because it has to be deeper , has to flow by gravity . 'Water flows by pressure and can be put in at a constant depth plus we would have to get easements through every front yard as we did through every backyard plus we would have more expensive repair work to do on the driveways . In looking at the landscaping both front and rear we did spend a large amount of time in talking with the local residents and we felt it was much more efficient to go through the back lots . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that it was also her understanding that because the present septic fields are in the back of all of these houses that the individual homeowners cost to connect would be considerably less than if they would have to bring it to the front . Town Attorney Barney asked , if the sewer went across the front would 1489 , for example , have to pump up hill to get to the sewer or would they be able to get there by gravity . Town Engineer Walker replied that they probably would have to pump . Town Board Minutes 18 January 7 , 1991 Mr . Ball replied that he would challenge that because he had looked at that and most of those are very shallow houses and some even have a grade to the road . Councilman Whitcomb asked , how deep will you be with your sewer along the road? Town Engineer Walker remarked , the major issue is the bed rock . Celia Bowers remarked that she was not a sewer expert and she had Just heard about the problem , but it seemed to her that when you have wet land running down to the lake that this was not an ideal situation . She stated that she had known Jane ( Schafrik) for a long time and she could testify that her back yard was wet year around . I: f you have a break you could have serious pollution , she stated that she was not an expert , but this is right about the lake it goes into a lot of peoples wells , the run off from this area . Town Engineer Walker replied , when you have a bed rock situation you have a much more difficult situation for the pipe . . . . . . . Mr . Ball asked if test boring had been done so that they knew they had bed rock? Mr . Walker replied , we installed the water line there and had bed rock . Mr . Ball responded that he was talking about in back of the houses . Have you had test borings to know what is in there , do you have bed rock in there ? Town Engineer Walker replied that they had done test borings but he did not know the exact locations but at one point the bed rock was down eight feet . Councilman Niklas remarked that if there was a break in the sewer line that was running along Route 96 , that septage would none the less end up in that wet area that is all down hill anyway . Bed rock to excavate and even natural bed rock has fissures and cracks and if the slope is heading in that direction anyway if you are going to have a break up hill or a break in mid-hill you are still going to end up having that pollution problem . Celia Bowers felt you could see the problem much quicker than if it was in a wetlands situation . Scott McConnell remarked that if there was a breakage in the sewer and it is sutenersed in ground water the static pressure from the ground water has a tendency to push ground water into the sewer instead of the sewer pushing out of the sewer pipe and into the ground water . Jane Schaf:rik , 1491 Trumansburg Road stated that in looking at the change she would say fine except for a couple of rather obvious questions . She asked is that a service line , that ' s question number one . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that she was not sure she understood the question . Mrs . Schafrik replied , the change in the extension district from going to the Town line to going to the Conner-Goldman house , is that now a service line as opposed to a transmission line ? The Town Engineer replied , it ' s still a sewer main . Town Board. Minutes 19 January 7 , 1991 Mrs . Schafrik replied , it is a line that at some date in the future do you intend to extend it to hook up the rest of the district , through which sewage can transmit from the rest of the Town of Ithaca and the rest of the Town of Ulysses or anybody else who makes application to hook up to it ? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , there has been no discussion , whatsoever of servicing the Town of Ulysses . Mrs . Schafrik replied that she understood that but once you own the deed right-of-way and the transmission line is there it ' s a logical leap . Her question was then , beyond that what are the future plans in order to do as you are saying "on the loop " because it seems to her that the way you have it now solves the Goldman-Conner problem but does not extend it any further so that we come back to a future problem again in the future as to what is going to happen to it . She went on to say that it also comes to a problem of what happens if her septic system fails , although it ' s good now and quite a new system and she did not anticipate it failing but on the other hand who knows what will happen to it . Then , her options are to put in an application to put in a new septic system, although she was told by the Assistant Town Engineer that she would not be permitted to do that because of deficiency of lot size in which case she could make application to hook up to the existing line on the Goldman property . She was told that she would not be permitted to do that without providing a full and complete easement across her property . She stated that she needed to understand , number one , whether that is possible . According to her attorney you cannot legally use her need to obtain an easement so that should her system fail the Health Department and not the Town says no you may not replace your existing septic system . Then her request to hook up cannot or should not be tied to granting a full easement across her property . Town Attorney Barney replied that he had not looked at it from that perspective , if the line terminates , where it is terminated there , just what arrangements Mrs . Schafrik might be able to make to connect on that line would have to wait the moment , it would depend on what the persons who owns 1489 may say at that point and it would also depend on what kind of an easement the Town got from them as to whether the easement went to her property line or not . They they were kind enough to give us an easement that ran to Mrs . Schafrik ' s property line then very possibly you might be able to connect on . There may be other reasons why you could or could not connect on , depending on the circumstances at that point in time . He stated that he knew that this was a vague answer but he felt that the answer was that right now the line is contemplated because in part you are unwilling to give an easement and there is no particular reason to carry the line further north . obviously , we have a choice of coning to you and saying we are going to condemn or exercise the right of eminent domain and he felt the Town felt that they really didn ' t want to get into that . So they said , if you don ' t want to give an easement fine , we will stop the line a little bit short of your property line . Mrs . Schafrik remarked that her understanding was that the Town would have a problem getting into that because the only reason you condemn is for the greater good of the community and there is not place to extend it beyond our home at the present time . Town Attorney Barney replied , except he thought the extension would serve the other three houses across the road . Mrs . Schafrik replied that this was the first time anybody had said anything to her about bringing it across the road . She noted es that shows the water in their and and also the lace pictures y P where the Town engineers want to bring the equipment onto the Town Board Minutes 1 20 January 7 , 1991 Goldman-Conner property where there is water standing in the yard in the early fall , it has enormous ramifications and they just don ' t think it had really been thought through . Also , if you bring it that way , as it sits and stands , but what good is it to the people on the other side of the street , you are extending a district to fill the need of her neighbors , who she felt very sorry for , but it was not really her fault that they did not maintain their septic system and they are pumping sewage on top of the ground . We have made it a very strong point not to call the Health Department or anything and in speaking with the Assistant Town Engineer he said it doesn ' t matter if you call the Health Department because we are going to fix it by putting in the sewer line . So , it seems like somebody is holding a loaded gun at her head , that is what she felt like , she said . Town Attorney Barney replied , quite frankly at this junctor there will have to be some explorations as to whether there is another way to serve those houses across the street and we haven ' t as far as he knew . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , there is a permanent easement on the map adjoining your property which would be the alignment that would have brought it across the street to serve on the other side of the Trumansburg Road . If we cannot do that we will just have to see what else we can do in order to bring the sewer across the street . Mrs . Schafrik remarked , that permanent easement is the ten foot easement that was requested from Mr . Lucatelli or . . . . . . . Town Engineer Walker remarked that the optimal route for gravity is directly across at the low point . We do have a temporary access easement and in talking with his assistant he felt the Town could get a permanent easement to extend the sewer up and then across . It is not quite as favorable a location but should work to serve the houses on the West side . Councilman Whitcomb asked , if you did acquire the easement between 1491 and 1489 up to the road , would it be possible to run the sewer along ( over here ? ) ? Town Engineer Walker replied that at this point he felt he would just bring it directly across . Councilman Whitcomb asked , if you acquire that easement would the Schafrik ' s be able to hook into that line ? Town Engineer Walker replied , they would have to extend the sewer main on to their property because we cannot run laterals across properties that are not . . . . . . Councilman Whitcomb asked how close would the main be to their property at this point ? Town Engineer Walker replied , we would probably recon:unend . . . . . . . Councilman Whitcomb remarked , that it be in their backyard at sane point . Lee Schafr:ik , 1491 Trumansburg Road stated that there were several things he wanted to say but he wanted to say nothing about the sewer itself . Number one , the reason that he did not , will not , sign an easement , as it stood , number one his backyard usage , the permanent easement , the temporary easement came within one foot of his house . The temporary easement was within one foot of the existing deck on his house and he would loose over 30 % of his Town Board Minutes 21 January 7 , 1991 backyard , he has no side yard to one side , he has a creek on the other side . If he wanted to make an extension to his house he could not do it , and he had only one way to enlarge his house and is to go into the back yard . He stated that he could not do it . He stated that he would be on the right-of-way . Supervisor Raffensperger asked how far was the permanent easement . . . Mr . Schafrik replied one foot . The temporary easement which is fifty feet: on the original map is one foot from his house . Mr . Schafrik went on to say , now we are going to come to his second point . After he would not sign the first easement , they came out and said they were going to resurvey it , stake it and show him where it was , and this is the first time he has seen it . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , actually that happened after Mrs . Schafrik and she had discussed it in the Engineering Office . In an attEmpt to accommodate your concerns , Mrs . Schafrik and she had discussed it in the Engineering Department and the Supervisor stated that she had asked the Engineering Department to go out and to stake an alignment that was more suitable for him , which they did . Mr . Schafrik replied , which they never did . Never saw stake one in the ground , never given that second map . Councilman Whitcomb stated that he had visited the Schafrik ' s and there was no evidence of any stakes in the backyard other than the original . Mr . Schafrik remarked that never had he received the second map . He went on to say that the other point he was going to bring out and he did not know if the other Town Board men hers knew , that there were signatures taken on some of the easements and not notarized , the Town employees said they would get them notarized back at the office . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she had talked to Mrs . Schafrik about that and that it was not a direct notarization of a signature :but was a witness notarization . Councilman Niklas asked if the people who signed the document know what they were signing? Are you saying there was some kind of misrepresentation of those signatures ? Mr . Schafrik replied , when ever he had to have something notarized the notary always asked if that was his signature . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , this is a different form . Mr . Schafrik went on to say that the next point was that he understood , via the grapevine , that he was supposed to be receiving some letters from individuals during the last week or so which he has not received . And he thought there was a whole misrepresentation here . Not that he was trying to be after the Town for his own elect but if you look at his back yard and what he has , the original map showed the temporary easement within one foot of his house , permanent easement is within one foot of the deck , which he now has , and he has not seen that map , never . Councilman Liguori remarked , having seen that map now. . . . Mr . Schafrik replied , can I see it now . Town Board Minutes 22 January 7 , 1991 Supervisor Raffensperger speaking to Mrs . Schafrik remarked to Mrs . Schafrik you have seen this map . Mrs . Schafrik replied that she had seen the map in the office . She felt the only person where who really understood what she was talking about was Councilman Whitcomb because he has taken the time , very kindly , to come and look at the property . If you go one way you are going to chew up a bunch of trees and they are the only trees we have in the back to shade the house and if you move the sewer line to the property line but then you kill the 80 ' pine trees and that ' s the privacy barrier that we have . We don ' t want to stop our neighbors from getting what they need but we don ' t want to have a loaded gun put to our head either . And we don ' t want our property destroyed and it ' s a little lot . The others all have an acre and a half and two acres , we are 150 by 150 . There is not room to go through there . And then we have all of this water which comes from the lack of drainage maintenance from the Iradell Road drainage shed . We had all our trees taken in the front when the water line was put down and 95 people have promised the replacement of the trees and we have still to see a tree and it ' s three 'and a half years later . So , the bottom line is it still isn ' t a sensible thing to do , not just for us but for the rest of the people in the Town who are entitled to sewer service , it ' s just not a sensible way to do it . She stated that she did not know what the answer was , it seemed to her that the best answer was a service line that stops at the end of their property to service these five hones . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she thought Mrs . Schafrik really knew that the Town had tried to accommodate them and find an area through the back of their property that would be acceptable . When that seemed to be impossible then we went to the idea of okay , may be we can make this service area smaller in order to accommodate your obvious distress about what we want to do . And that is why we are looking at a somewhat smaller service area which would end short of your property and would not have the kind of impacts that you believe it would have . She stated that she knew they had talked about the responsibilities of the Town to restore the property , all kinds of things but she knew Mrs . Schafrik did not find that very reassuring . John Wolf , 1431 Tr umansburg Road stated that he lived down the road a little and one of his key questions has to do in general , he understood that there were a couple of properties that have septic problems , but he had not had the opportunity to hook to the sewer and he wondered why these houses and what are the plans to take care of the houses down the road across from where the Indian Creek Retirement community was to have been built? And , how will that hook up with anybody else , like across the road and how anybody across the road , on up , is going to get to sewer anytime soon? Town Engineer Dan Walker responded that the planning report and public hearing process was initiated by petitions of land owners in this vicinity the five houses here plus a number of more . Mr . Ball asked , how many petitions ? Town Engineer Walker stated that he did not know how many petitions there were . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she had seen two petitions . Mr . Ball responded , and you are doing all this for two petitions ? Supervisor Raffensperger responded , you misunderstood me . I have seen two separate petitions asking for service in this area . What she did not know was the total number of people on those but the Town Board Minutes 23 January 7 , 1991 6 ones she had seen .she would probably say there were seven or eight . The Supervisor , speaking to Mrs . Schafrik asked her if she knew how many people had signed . Mrs . Schafrik replied , every body up and down the road signed . All the way down . The Town Engineer went on to say that this whole project is tied in and this is just one very small part of a much larger water and sewer extension project . If you will notice their is a water main extension from the Professional Building going down DuBois Road and provisions were being made because the developer was very positive about completing Indian Creek and bringing the water to the north side of DuBois Road and the developer was intending to extend it the rest of the way up to connect with Woolf Lane and also to run it into his development . As a part of that also , sewer construction would also be done by that developer to help serve that part of the Town . This part of the Town was not within the service area that the developer was proposing to improve the infrastructure on , so the Town felt , because of the petitioners , that it was necessary to extend sewer and since we had extended the sewer on Woolf Lane it was a logical extension . Mr . Wolf replied , so based on the Indian Creek Retirement Community thinking it would be developed you thought my section of the highway and even about Indian Creek , those houses , would be served by that and , therefore , this was separate . He asked if it was always baked on development ? It seems like sewer and water went down DuBois because there was going to be development . It seems like Indian Creek is dead . James Ainslie , 245 Hayts Road stated that the land was now back in the hands of Mr . Babcock , he knew because he works some of the land and Mr . Babcock had called him personally . Mr . Lucas is completely out of the picture , Bruce Babcock has the land , that is his sign and his telephone number . Mr . Wolf responded that he liked the idea of a retirement community , there is a real need for something like that . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that it was her understanding that the anticipation of the sewer in that area for Indian Creek was planned because the developer was going to pay for it and the residents of the Town of Ithaca would not have to pay for what he had to pay for . She thought that there was no doubt that there were difficulties with that site although she also understood that there was another developer for senior citizens housing who has looked at it . Whether or not they are going to do anything she did not know but that is part of the approval for the portion of that particular property , so the Town still has some hope that they will get some help with the extension . Mr . Wolf replied', so it ' s going to be up to that piece of land being developed and he felt some thought should be given to extending -the sewer . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that it could not be done in this project because the service area is set , it was set in a public hearing in 1989 and we received approval from Audit and Control for that area so we would have to do another , a 1990 or 1991 sewer project and get approval from Audit and Control and it would have to be a Separate project . She went on to say that she thought it would depend upon the extent that the people in that area feel that they need :it . We would have to look at the cost of it to see if it could be done as a Town only project . She suggested that Mr . Wolf Town Board Minutes 24 January 7 , 1991 a come in and talk with the Engineering Department and tell them the problems and what kinds of needs he sees for the area . ' a Krys Cail ,, 337 DuBois Road stated that her house and her drinking water was directly down hill from the proposed sewage district extension and both themselves and their neighbors have had bacteria in their wells and as a matter of fact her neighbors , for the past six years , ran the Three Flours Bakery , as a home business , out of their home and had continuing problems with Ag & Market people . She went on to say that their well was shallow , their neighbors was not . They have had to go back to teaching school and sell the business . The drainage in the area proposed for the new sewer pitches tcward the lake down by her house . Supervisor Raffensperger asked if she was saying that the failing septic systems there were polluting her well ? Ms . Cail repliedp yes . She went on to say that everything they had gone through with the County about their house being flooded it goes to show that even good engineering can underestimate how bad the water flows down the hill . There is a lot of water coming from a long way up hill and flow through cracks at great volume in the bedrock and springs pop up here and there . She stated that she was a little concerned about having machinery come in and dig where there has been a failed septic system and disturbing the land . She wondered what kind of runoff or whatever would cone from that . When the actual sewer systems were done she hoped people were real careful about the area that it is put in in terms how easy or difficult it is to maintain that system because you have the same problem only worse if you start hooking in Iradell Road , etc . , and there is a break in the line and our wells are down hill . She went on to say that she was in the Town of Ulysses so their chances of then having municipal water very soon aren ' t that great . However , if you do know there are failed septic systems up there she hoped the Town would do something quick because it was not good for their water . - Jane Schafrik stated that she would really like to know what their status would be if the Town stopped the line , if you went to the new proposed district . At some point she would like to see in writing exactly what the Town sees as their future rights , what the Town future plans would be to bring the line across the street or whether we would be just starting this all over again through our yard at a future time . Also , she would like to say that not in their worse nightmares did they ever consider that the Town would bring the sewer line through their backyards when they signed the petitions , it never crossed their minds or they would not have signed the petition . Supervisor Raffensperger speaking to Mrs . Schafrik remarked let me clarify this . She went on to say that it was her understanding though that at a neighborhood meeting the backyard/ frontyard discussion was conducted and that it was her impression that most of the residents would prefer it in the backyard because of the economy of hook up and the fact that it would be basically less destructive of the property . She asked Mrs . Schafrik if she thought she had gotten the wrong impression ? Mrs . Schafrik replied , no that she did not think the Supervisor ' s impression was wrong if it was an option between frontyard/backyard . Her feeling was that a viable ' option was an option between roadway right-of-way and backyard . Your assumption is absolutely correct if it is an option between frontyard/backyard . There are more trees in the front yards and there are the driveways and there is significantly less water in the frontyards , there is no question about that . But we still feel Town Board Minutes 25 January 7 , 1991 pretty firmly that the engineers are just going to find a much worse situation than they think . Supervisor Raffensperger responded that she did not think the Town could provide Mrs . Schafrik with what she was asking for because she did not think the Town knew and they could not guarantee what the situation would be if and when she wished to hook up or even how we are going to access the other side of Tr umansburg Road if we cannot do it on the alignment that was originally planned . Town Attorney John Barney replied , that is an accurate statement . Gene Ball stated that he would challenge the Supervisor ' s statement as the Town was planning for the future and he felt the future plans should be layed down before you go through with something as peculiar as you are putting in here now. Supervisor Raffensperger replied it was not peculiar , it seemed to her originally , certainly there are peculiaraties now if we cannot come across the Schafrik ' s property and come up on the easement between that and the adjoining property to serve the other side of the Trumansburg Road . Mr . Ball replied ; if that property was yours and you had a city lot he stated that he felt "you" would consider that peculiar . The Judgement of the engineers with you people backing them to go through the easements you have on a small city lot running all the equipment and lines . . . . . . . . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , we are attempting not to do that . Mr . Ball replied that he knew that but your plans were to do that initially . Mr . Schafrik said that they were threatened , told , that they would not be allowed to hook up , that at no future time would we be allowed to hook up to that sewer . Town Attorney Barney remarked , if that was said it was not accurate . Mrs . Schafrik added , unless we granted a hundred percent easement . Town Attorney John Barney agreed to meet with the Schafrik ' s to try to work out a workable solution ., Supervisor Raffensperger closed the public hearing . Councilman Whitcomb asked the Town Engineer what happens with the new septic regulations that are in effect , what happens to people who have :ffnall Dots with septic systems on them that don ' t have sewer available , what recourse do they have ? Town Engineer Walker replied , generally in something like that with a very high ground water situation you are going to end up with a large mound , hauling in three or four thousand yards of material . Councilman Whitccmb asked , what about the two hundred foot circle requirement? Town Engineer Walker replied , that is a major problem . They would have to have a waiver and they look at those very closely . He felt if public water were available then the two hundred foot circle was a little bit less critical because there are now wells . RESOLUTION NO . 18 Town Board Minutes 26 January 7 , 1991 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and conduct a public hearing for February 11 , 1991 at 8 : 00 P .M . , to consider the reduction of the Town of Ithaca Sewer System Benefited Area , 1989 an addition to the Town sewer system . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . ADJOURDDENT The meeting was duly adjourned . wn ?Clerk TOWN OF ITHACA AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING AND PUBLICATION Jean H . Swartwood being duly sworn , say that I am the Town Clerk of the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , New York ; that the following notice has been duly posted on the sign board of the Town Clerk of the Town of Ithaca and that the notice has been duly published in the local newspaper : ( Ithaca Journal ) See Attached . ' Location of sign board used for posting : Main Entrance Date of Posting : . December 26 , 1990 Date of Publication : December 28 , 1990 wn Clerk , Town of Ithaca STATE OF NEW YORK ) COUNTY OF TOMPKINS ) SS : TOWN OF ITHACA ) orn to and subscribed before me this ��� day of VA LEAN B . CARPENTER Notary Public, State of New York Qualified in Tompkins Co. No. 4797177 Notary Public My Commission Expires April 30, MLN � TOM OF ITHACA NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING PLEASE THE NOTICE , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and conduct a public hearing on January 7 , 1991 , at 7 : 30 P .M . , at the Town Hall , 126 East Seneca Street , Ithaca , New York , to consider a. local law on backflow prevention and will at this time hear all persons in favor of or opposed to said local law . Jean H . Swartwood Town Clerk PUBLISH : :December 28 , 1990 y t 1 TOWN OF ITHACA AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING AND PUBLICATION Jean H . Swartwood being duly sworn , say that I am the Town Clerk of the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , New York ; that the following notice has been duly posted on the sign board of the Town Clerk of the Town of Ithaca and that the notice has been duly published in the local newspaper : ( Ithaca Journal ) See Attached . Location of sign board used for posting : Main Entrance Date of Posting : December 26 , 1990 Date of Publication : December 28 , 1990 Toyif Clerk , Town of Ithaca STATE OF NEW YORK ) COUNTY OF TOMPKINS ) SS : TOWN OF ITHACA ) wo subscribed before r rn to and subs b o e me this day of y LEAH E!, CARPENTER LS Notary Public, State of New York Notary Public Qualified in Tompkins Co. No. 4797177 \ My . Commission Expires April 30, 192�i\\ TOWN OF ITHACA NOTICE OF ADJOURNED PUBLIC HEARING PLEASE TAKE NOTICE , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and (conduct an adjourned public hearing on January 7 , 1991 at . 8 : 00 P . M . , at the Town Hall , 126 East Seneca Street , Ithaca , New York , to consider a determination of public purpose for the West Hill 1989 sewer extension and will at this time hear all persons in favor of or opposed to said determination . Jean H . Swartwood Town Clerk PUBLISH : December 28 , 1990